Breech block operating means



June 30, 1942..

B. P. JoYqE BREECH B LOGK OPERATiNG MEANS Fi1e d'Au 1,;1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 wwM June 30, 1942. B. P. JOYCE 2,287,835

\ BREECH'BLOCK OPERATING MEANS FileiAug 1, 1940 a Sheets-Sheet 2 June 30, 1942. I B. P; JOYCE 2,237,835

BREECH BLOCK OPERATING MEANS Filed Aug. 1, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3' 4 fl 1 Bryan Z? Jbyce 4 i wnwess' 4 g g Patented June 30, 1942 l STATS TNT FlCE 7 Claims.

Various kinds of guns, for example, automatic aircraft and anti-aircraft guns, and automatic tank guns, while having automatic breech block operating means, are provided also with a breech block operating member which may be actuated by hand whenever the breech block is to be manually operated. This breech block operating member is necessarily carried by the gun and must recoil therewith, and heretofore it has been customary to insert a cranked socket wrench or the like through an opening in one side of the cradle, upon which the gun recoils and counterrecoils, to actuate said member. In the great majority of cases, this has been satisfactory but in other cases in which the gun has accidentally fired and recoiled, due to a hang-fire or other cause, the socket wrench has necessarily kicked back with the gun, itself becoming damaged, breaking the gun cradle and/or other parts of the gun, and usually more or less seriously injuring the member of the gun crew who was operating said wrench. It is the object of the present invention to overcome these hazards in a simple and inexpensive manner.

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, description being accomplished by reference to the accompanying drawings Figure l is a fragmentary side elevation showing one form of the invention.

Figure 2 is a detail transverse section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a detail vertical section partly in elevation as indicated by line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is a detail horizontal section substantially on line 44 of Fig. 1.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Fig. l but partly broken away, illustrating a different form of construction.

Figure 6 is an enlarged side elevation similar to a portion of Fig. 5 but showing the operating crank engaged with the breech block operating member.

Figure '7 is a detail vertical section substantially on line of Fig. 5 and the corresponding line of Fig. 6.

Figure 8 is a horizontal section substantially on line 88 of Fig. 5.

Figure 9 is a detail perspective view showing a portion of the operating crank.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary side elevation looking toward the right side of the gun instead of the left as in the preceding views, showing a construction in which the operating crank for the breech block operating means is permanently mounted on the gun cradle.

Figure 11 is a transverse section on line ||-l| of Fig. 10.

Figure 12' is a fragmentary side elevation partly broken away and in section.

Figure 13 is a horizontal section on line |3|3 of Fig. 10.

In the various views, 20 denotes a gun an: 2| has reference to the cradle upon which the gun recoils and counter-recoils, said cradle being pivotally mounted on trunnions 22 engaged with appropriate bearings in the arms 23 of a yoke 24 forming part of a gun mount 25. The gun 20 includes a breech block 26, and the automatic operating mechanism for said breech block includes a transverse shaft 21 having an arm 28 engaged with a cam groove or the like 29 in said breech block so that turning of the shaft 2'! in one direction will open the block and turning in the other direction will close said block. The

shaft 2'! may also be operated by hand when the breech block is to be manually operated.

In the form of construction shown in Figs. 1 to 4, an ordinary spur gear 30 is secured on one end of the shaft 21, and the hand crank 3| which is used to manually actuate said shaft 21 is provided with a pinion or gear 32, some of the rearwardly facing teeth of 32 being engageable with some of the forwardly facing teeth of 30 when the crank 3| is to be used to turn the shaft 21. The gear 32 is inwardly insertible through an opening 33 in one side of the cradle 2| and is provided with a hub 34 for rotatable reception in said opening 33, the extent of insertion with respect to the opening being limited by an annular flange 35 on said hub, which flange contacts with the cradle 2| as seen in Figs. 2 and 4. In order to insert the wrench and engage its gear 32 with the gear 3|] of the shaft 27, it is necessary to provide one of the yoke arms 23 with an opening 36 which is large enough to clear the flange 35, and it is necessary to elevate or depress the gun 20 until said opening 36 is alined with the opening 33. The entire crank 3| may then be inserted and engaged in readiness for operating the shaft 21. Turning of the crank causes its gear 32 to turn the gear 30 of the shaft 21, thus operating the latter. Should the gun accidentally fire with the crank engaged with the breech block operating means, due to a hang-fire or other cause, the gear 30 will simply move rearwardly from and disengage the gear 32 of the crank 3|. Thus, this crank cannot be damaged, it cannot damage any part of the gun or its cradle, and cannot injure the operator.

In the form of construction shown in Figs. to 9 inclusive, the crank-engaging means on the breech block operating shaft 2'! consists of a squared end 3% on said shaft, alined with an opening 33 in the cradle 25, when the gun 29 is at rest. This opening 33 is provided with a radial offset 31 for a purpose to appear.

The crank 31 is provided with a socket 3'22 constituting the means to engage the means 36] of the shaft El, the side of said socket, however, which constitutes the rear side thereof when the crank is engaged initially with the shaft, being cut away as shown at 38 in Figs. '7 and 9. Thus, if the gun should accidentally fire and recoil when the crank is initially engaged with the breech block operating shaft, the squared end 3'! of said shaft will simply pass through the open side 38 of the socket 152* and no injury will occur to the operator or to any part of the gun or its cradle. To insure that the crank shall be initially engaged with the'squared shaft end 35 with the open side 38 of the socket disposed rearwardly, said socket is provided with a lug 39 which should abut the upper end of the offset 37 of the opening 33 when the crank is initially inserted. This same stop or lug 39 may strike the lower end of the offset Si to limit the breech block opening movement of the crank 31 In connection with the form of construction shown in Figs. 5 to 9, like that shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the arm 23 which would otherwise interfere with insertion of the crank, is provided with a suitable opening to prevent such. interference, this opening being shown at 3 5 in Figs. 7 and 8.

Figs. 10 to 13 illustrate a construction in which the actuating crank Bi for the shaft 2?, permanently mounted on the cradle 22 l, which is permissible when the trunnions 22 are located further forward than in the preceding views so that the permanently mounted crank will not strike the yoke arm 23 during elevation or depression of the gun. It will also be observed that in the form of construction shown in Figs. 10 to 13, the crank 3i is mounted at the right hand side of the cradle 25 instead of at the left in the preceding views.

On one end of the shaft ill I have shown an arm iii which is part of the automatic operating means for the shaft 2 I provide the shaftengaging end or hub of this arm it-3 with gear teeth 3t to mesh with a pinion or gear 32 on the shaft ii of the crank 35 This shaft All is rotatably and slidably mounted in an appropriate bearing secured to the cradle 2i, and this shaft is normally forced outwardly to unmesh 32" from 39", by means of a coiled spring 43, as seen more particularly in Figs. 11 and 13. When the shaft ii occupies this outward position, it is preferably held against rotation, with the crank 3i standing upright, by means of lateral studs it on the shaft seated in appropriate notches 55. A housing at is preferably provided for the spring 53, carried in part by the bearing i2 and in part by the crank al When the construction shown in Figs. 10 to 13 is to be operated, the operator pushes in on the outer end of the shaft 4| with one hand to slide the gear 32 into mesh with the gear teeth 3% and with his other hand turns the crank 31 Should the gun accidentally fire and recoil with 32 and 39 engaged with each other, tu will simply kick back with the gun and disengage enemas from 32 with no injury to any parts of the gun or its cradle, or to the operator.

From the foreging taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made to carrying out the objects of the invention. While illustrative features of construction have been illustrated, variations may of course be made within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

l. The combination of a gun cradle, a recoiling gun mounted on said cradle and including a transverse rotatable breech block operating member which recoils with the gun, a hand crank mounted on said cradle near said breech block operating member, the axes of said breech block operating member and crank being unidirectional, and interengageable driving elements on said breech block operating member and crank for establishing a driving connection from the latter to the former when the breech block is to be opened by hand, the driving element on said breech block operating member being rearwardly disengageable from the driving element on said crank, whereby recoil of the gun with said driving elements engaged will not kick said crank.

2. The combination of a gun cradle having a lateral opening, a gun reciprocably mounted in said cradle and including a transverse rotatable breech block operating shaft which recoils with the gun, one end of said shaft being disposed near said opening, a rotatable member mounted in said opening and having an outwardly projecting portion by means of which it may be rotated, the axes of said rotatable member and the aforesaid shaft being unidirectional, and interengageable driving elements on said rotatable member and said one end of said shaft for establishing a driving connection from said rotatable member to said shaft when the breech block is to be operated by hand, the driving element on said shaft being rearwardly disengageable from the driving element on said rotatable member, whereby recoil of the gun with said driving elements engaged will not kick said rotatable member. 7

3. The combination of a gun cradle, a recoiling gun mounted on said cradle and including a transverse rotatable breech block operating member which recoils with the gun, a crank rotatably mounted on said cradle near said breech block operating member, the axes of said crank and breech block operating member being unidirectional, a forwardly facing driving element on said breech block operating member, and a rearwardly facing driving element on said crank for engagement with said forwardly facing driving element to establish a driving connection from said crank to said breech block operating member when the breech block is to be operated by hand, said forwardly facing driving element being rearwardly disengageable from said rearwardly facing driving element if the gun should recoil while said elements are engaged.

i. The combination of a gun cradle, a recoiling gun mounted on said cradle and including a transverse rotatable breech block operating member which recoils with the gun, a hand crank mounted for rotation and axial sliding on said cradle in advance of said breech block operating member, the axes of said crank and said breech block operating member being unidirectional, and interengageable gears on said crank and member for operatively connecting them, the crank-carried gear being engageable with the member-carried gear by axially sliding said crank, said member-carried gear being behind said crank-carried gear to rearwardly unmesh therefrom if the gun should recoil while said gears are engaged with each other.

5. The combination of a gun cradle, a recoiling gun mounted on said cradle and including a transverse rotatable breech block operating member which recoils with the gun, a forwardly facing driving element on said breech block operating member, a hand crank permanently mounted rotatably and slidably on said cradle for movement from an outward idle position to an inward operative position, the axes of said breech block operating member and crank being unidirectional, and a rearwardly facing driving element on said crank engageable with said forwardly facing driving element of said breech block operating member by inwardly sliding said crank, said driving elements then establishing a driving connection from said crank to said breech block operating member, the driving element on said breech block operating member being rearwardly movable from the crank-carried driving element if the gun should recoil While said driving elements are engaged with each other.

6. A structure as specified in claim 5; together with spring means normally holding said crank yieldably in said outward idle position.

'1. A structure as specified in claim 5; together with spring means normally holding said crank yieldably in saidoutward idle position, and means for holding said crank against rotation when in said outward position, said means comprising coacting elements on the cradle and crank for alining the driving element on said crank with the driving element on said breech block operating member.

BRYAN P. JOYCE. 

